Quilt at the beach

A few weeks ago, we went on a crazy, almost spur-of-the-moment road trip to the beach. My sister-in-law invited us to come stay with them at a beach house in southern California during part of their spring break. At first I wasn’t sure it was a good idea. We had a lot going on and our kids would miss a couple days of school since it wasn’t our spring break yet. Fortunately we threw caution to the wind and did it anyway. And it turned out to be the very best kind of idea.

We went from this the week before…

…to this.

Not too shabby.

Since we were going to be in a nice change of scenery, I decided to finally photograph this project somewhere besides my backyard. (Although, I wouldn’t mind if this was my new backyard.) I started this quilt exactly a year ago. I wanted to play with fabrics and create a kind of ombre look using different shades of fabric. I love each of the fabrics that I used.

Then I decided I wanted to quilt it myself using an echo quilting in the white space. And it took. For. Evah. I would work on it for a little bit and then get sick of it and put it away for a while. And then pull it out again for a few more rounds, and then put it away again. Finally I finished it during Season 3 of Downton Abby. Whew.

And now it is finally ready to share. I was originally going to write a pattern for this one. Still deciding if that will happen or if it will just be a nice experiment in fabrics, color, and a lot of straight line quilting. Also still trying to come up with a name for it. Ideas? Thoughts? Suggestions?

And nowI will leave you with some dreamy, summery shots to get you through these last winter days (if it’s still like that where you are.)

Breaks are good things – I didn’t realize how much I needed one until we went away. It was so nice to just sit and visit with siblings (my sister and her husband drove a couple of hours to come visit for the day and another brother-in-law and his wife were able to visit another day. I love my family!) I loved just sitting, doing a little hand-sewing, watching the cousins play together, listening to the waves, and eating fresh fish tacos.

And now we’re back in the middle of school plays, registering for next year, birthdays, and the busy-ness of regular life. Next time I get an invite to the beach, I definitely won’t drag my feet before I get there. That’s for sure.

What a fabulous get away!! Looks so nice and sunny!! The quilt is fabulous and not that you would ever name it after this, but it reminds me of my sons&#39;s braces when he gets different color bands put on 🙂

Beautiful quilt! I don&#39;t have any cute name suggestions, but it reminds me of zipper teeth. 🙂 It&#39;s only the first day of spring, but your photos made me realize how ready I am for summer to get here.

Hi Amy, what a lovey story about your outing. Got a little chuckle about you quilting your quilt. Love, Love, Love your blog, I will surely be back to visit and I am now your newest follower! <br />Shari @ Kashmere Kisses

Isn&#39;t it wonderful to get together with family, especially if it isn&#39;t planned ahead of time? The whole trip kind of takes on a relaxed feel with nothing planned down to the minute. I am glad you were able to get away and enjoy family and a gorgeous beach!

Thanks so much for the love!! You know when you&#39;ve looked at something so long that you can&#39;t decide if you even like it anymore? That&#39;s how I was feeling about this quilt. Now I&#39;m feeling a renewed love as well. Sounds like I need to write the pattern…

Love the quilt!! How about &quot;Southern Cross&quot;. Don&#39;t know where exactly you were, but when I think of beaches, I always think of the South!!<br /><br />Hope you decide to do a pattern as I would LOVE to get it!!

Beautiful! I did a little echo quilting on your &quot;Chain Linked&quot; pattern and it likewise took forever. 🙂 But it looks so good when it&#39;s done!<br /><br />This reminds me of a spaced apart zipper, so I&#39;d name it &quot;Deconstructed Zipper&quot; though that might be a little too artsy-fartsy for a pattern name, I don&#39;t know. 🙂

So glad you were able to have a get away, and to such a beautiful place. The first thing I see on your awesome quilt are the crosses, which make me think of the the amazing, redeeming sacrifice our Savior Jesus Christ made for us. So my vote for a name would be Resurrection, the story doesn&#39;t end at the cross but in the promise of eternal life that He gives us all! I love all the fabrics you&

I knew I couldn&#39;t be alone in this one. I LOVE LOVE LOVE that quilt and am begging you to please make a pattern for it and soon. I mean really soon. I need it so I can make and have it finished by June 1, 2013. It&#39;s just stunning.

Lucky Lady to have a wonderful and well deserved beach break… and with your family too! Can&#39;t say why, but &quot;Making Tracks&quot; comes to my mind. Totally love the quilting and know what a labor of love it is to complete a never-ending quilt project. Many thanks for all you share.

who cares what you name it I love the pattern sew write it and get it out there. The 77 comments before me all had great names, you could just make the pattern cover with all of them like sweetwater does with there fabric

Love this quilt sew much!!! Please make a pattern 🙂 I love the name that Cathy,on March 20 at 5:19PM suggested, Tree House Ladder, because it also reminds me of the ladders we would make to our tree houses as well. We would hunt for any bits of wood we could find and our ladders as well as the tree house would be a lovily combination of differant colored bits of wood…much like a quilt:)<br />

I am really late at getting a reply posted but I am in love with this quilt. Serenity is the name which popped into my head first. It reminds me of peace and unity.<br /><br />I would happily purchase a pattery or this if you made one. :)<br /><br />I long for a trip to the beach with sunny skies. We are just south of Seattle and it is torentially raining here.<br /><br />

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